DntWorryB.Happy

Seems as if my rim is out of wack again.

When im on it i dont notice anything.

But when i spin the wheel (using the pedal) fast while holding the seat, the bike goes up and down.

Ive only done 241 miles.

Should i invest in a truing stand or leave it to the pros at the bike shops?

jimc101

After 241 miles the wheel shouldn't be out of true unless damaged.

For vertical trueness, which is the up and down you are describing, this can be hard to eliminate totally, especially if the rim is not perfectly round to start with, how much is this going up / down, and do you notice it when there is a tire installed and you are riding?

As for learning yourself, it's useful to know, and worth it if you build lots of wheels, but if you only have one set, the cost of tools / truing stand (you can use your bike for this) will take a long time to recoup vs getting the LBS to do it.

fietsbob

depends on time budget, money and such..

should such is a morality laden term..


perhaps your rim is bent too much & too far, and ought to be replaced..

nhluhr

That doesn't tell me anything about the rim's trueness or even roundness. What you're describing is dynamic imbalance.

What wheels are they? Many higher end wheels are counterbalanced to fix that.

ChrisM2097

Wheel truing is an art that I believe all cyclists should learn (especially clydesdales, or people that ride on low-spoke-count wheels). It's really not that hard. I learned simply by watching a few youtube videos, have built several wheels from the ground up, and have trued countless wheels for friends and family.

I'm no lightweight, and I knew that my wheels would have to be trued more often than most others'. I weigh about 265, and my commuter is a 2012 Trek FX 7.5 w/ 24 spoke wheels. I rebuilt them using Spoke Prep, brought the tension up, and have put over 800 miles on the bike, since. I just put the rear wheel on the truing stand a couple weeks ago, it it was off by only about 1mm laterally in one spot. 1/4 turn of one spoke, and it was straight again.

Besides saving you time and money, it also gives you a very rewarding sense of accomplishment.

Oh, and you don't need to have the Professional Park Truing stand. I have a cheap portable one that works just fine for me.

Bill Kapaun

Often you'll find what you are describing can be attributed to the tire being out of round/balance.
The larger the tire, the worse the problem because of the greater tire weight.

You didn't say what kind of bike this is on, so we don't know if you have fat mountain tires, skinny road tires or something in between.

You can do a "crude" check for rim trueness by turning the bike upside down, pedaling slowly while holding a pencil or similar next to the rim.
Look for side to side wobble plus "hop".

DntWorryB.Happy

Sorry all, i should update my sig.

I have a 2013 Trek FX 7.2, everything stock

I don't notice anything while riding, just when i spin the wheel. the faster i spin it, the more it goes up n down


https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...ness/fx/7_2_fx
My weight fluctuates from 201 to 193, i can't seem to stay consistant lol.

What truing stand do you have??
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...ness/fx/7_2_fx

ChrisM2097

This one. I didn't pay the current asking price though. I recall somewhere around $45-50 when I bought it.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Deluxe...s=truing+stand

It's certainly not the best one out there, but it's compact, and it works.

Homebrew01

My thought too. The valve's extra weight, combined with slight variations in the rim, tire & tube can make a wheel out of balance. It doesn't really matter on a bicycle, so essentially "they all do that".

To see if it really needs truing, use the brake pads as a guide. Does the rim go up and down relative to the brake pads ?
Same for side to side. If the rim itself goes up & down, or side to side, then truing is needed (unless the amount is tiny and you are not a perfectionist.)

Even a true wheel should have spoke tension checked from time to time. All the spokes should be uniformly tight, with barely any give.

Yes, it's good to be able to true your own wheels, and other basic maintenance. There are lots of bike tutorials on line (Parktool for example) .... everyone has their own comfort level about what they want to do.

DntWorryB.Happy

Thanks for the responses guys.

@HomeBrew, i just looked at it close up, it LOOKS like the rim goes up in one spot compared to the brakes.

Im going to take my tire off and put a table or something close to it to see if its really going up.

The poor mans gauge lol

Homebrew01

hops (bulge outward) and flat spots (dent inward) can be harder to fix than side to side. So once you determine it's out of true, you need to decide if it's worth the trouble. If you don't notice it while riding, then possibly leave it alone.

himespau 

If you bought it recently (you say only 241 miles) and you bought it new (don't know), maybe it'd be under warranty or within your guidelines of free checkups at the bike shop? After seeing it, they can tell you better than internet strangers using your descriptions whether there's a problem or not. If this isn't the case, proceed.

DntWorryB.Happy

This is the best idea i could come up with to test it...yeah its not perfect, but it shows the up and down motion.

https://youtu.be/3wNjjg3oIY8?hd=1

DntWorryB.Happy

just called LBS and they said i can bring it in

ChrisM2097

The spokes in those areas that are high are probably not tensioned enough. A tension meter would be the simplest way to find out...but they are ~$70 or so. If you're going to build wheels, it's an invaluable tool.

If you want to true your own wheels, and you want to do it right, you'll need to purchase a truing stand, a dish tool (unless you purchased a Park Pro truing stand - in which case, you don't need a dish tool), a spoke tension meter, and a set of spoke wrenches. Plan on spending anywhere from $150 - $300 depending on which way you go. If you can find the stuff used and in good shape, then by all means, save a few bucks.

DntWorryB.Happy

Just got back from the LBS.

He checked out both wheels and said they werent damaged and were barely out of shape, for him to get it absolutely perfect he'd have to redo the rim.

Im confused.

What you guys see in the video is acceptable as far as not being absolutely perfect? i imagine none are perfect except those high end mag wheels.

But is this something i need to investigate further, at what point should should a wheel be trued.

ChrisM2097

Loosening all the spokes and retensioning them is certainly an option...but if the shop has a tension meter, they should just check the tension of the spokes and see of there are a few that are not quite as 'tight' as the others. At least that's how I would approach it.

But some people don't like to use tension meters, dismissing them as unnecessary, or something that only a novice would use.

If the wheel used to be perfectly round, and now it's not, then that means that it will most likely continue to get worse, albeit, slowly.

Drew Eckhardt 

A spot that's off at the rim joint like on your wheel is common (the label covers the joint). If it's not enough to feel while riding don't worry about it.

Drew Eckhardt 

If the tension difference is enough to cause problems it'll be clearly audible plucking the spokes.

The tension meter is slower than just plucking the spokes to determine relative tension and of questionable utility there. Where it's useful is achieving the correct average tension, where how hard it is to turn nipples varies with lubrication and the tone varies with spoke thickness and length.

rogerstg

What does "redo the rim" mean? It makes no sense to me.

DntWorryB.Happy

redo all the spokes?

I dont know, im new to this lol.......

noglider 

If you like doing mechanical work and have patience for frustrating processes, you'll find it rewarding. If you've never done it before, there's a very good chance you'll make it worse before you make it better. That's how it went for me. I've seen this with other budding mechanics.

At this point, I can build a wheel almost with my eyes closed. I get a lovely feeling of satisfaction from it. I feel resourceful and smart and strong. I feel the same way when I straighten a damaged wheel better than expectations.

ChrisM2097

I must be tone deaf, because I don't notice the slight tonal differences from improperly tensioned spokes. I like to refer to facts and figures instead of relying on my ears. If listening to the spokes works for you, then great. I prefer my tension meter. There's no right or wrong answer - it all comes down to preferences.

I enjoy building and truing wheels. A few extra minutes is no big deal to me. Now, if I built wheels for a living, then it'd be a different story.

rekmeyata

Take it to another bike shop and let them tell you if they think the wheels can be put back into round without redoing the entire wheel. If they say sure no problem then take it back to the place you bought it from. Your LBS probably doesn't want to perform service after the sale because they won't make any money, nice huh?

Truing your wheels yourself is not a big deal and with a wealth of information you can gleam off You Tube, you could easily learn how. The biggest problem to truing wheels is just the initial tool price to do the job, which is OK if you have a lot of bikes and or are planning on building wheels. I have 8 bikes and I don't own a wheel truing stand but I true my wheels myself! How you ask? I just use the brake pads as my guide. Then about every 10 years (depending on mileage I put on the bike) I take a pair or two pairs of wheels in to make sure their dished and tensioned properly which cost maybe $15 to $20 a wheel, but since I only do this once in a blue moon it's cheaper then buying a truing stand, dishing tool, and spoke tensioner which can come to around $200 and more if you get better stuff. Of course if you do it my way you have to buy the proper spoke wrench but those are cheap at around $8.

Here is how I do it, and note this method works if you need to do it on the road! see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svMMaGMsIMw One thing this video does not show or did not do is you should deflate the tire FIRST before adjusting, this prevents the possibility of the spoke head poking a tube. You also don't need a bike stand, simply flip the bike upside down and do the same thing as shown.

banzo

Which one do you use? Anyone out there own/use a Minoura FT1?